How do I know what was the fee,
Look up your transaction in a block explorer and it will tell you. Your wallet should also tell you.
how can I manipulate it in future (make it higher),
Most wallets have an option to do that. I don't use blockchain.info and they have changed since I last looked at it, so I am not sure. Generally it is considered "advanced" to change the fees so try looking in advanced options or something like that. If you have the option to use dynamic fees, you should always use that.
how high the fee should be
The recommended fee constantly changes and depends entirely on the current network status.
http://bitcoinfees.21.co/ shows what the current recommended fee is in Satoshis/byte. If you are unable to use dynamic fees, but have the option to set a fee in terms of satoshis/byte, then set the fee based upon this site before making a transaction.
and why I didn't have that issue before?
Recently there was a sudden influx of transactions and this has pushed fees to be higher. Once those transactions clear, the recommended fee will drop.